


Rotten Apple

by EdosianOrchid



Series: Powerless [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Grimmichi is mentioned, Grimmjow is an angry kitten, Isshin and Ryuuken kinda suck, Post-Aizen Sousuke, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Powerless Ichigo, References to Depression, Shinji is underrated, Soul Society is kinda trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdosianOrchid/pseuds/EdosianOrchid
Summary: In which, Shinji basically tells Soul Society to "fuck off", these are his exact words. Eventually, he shows up at Ichigo's school to inform him and his friends, that "they look like shit", these are also his exact words. But Shinji is actually saving them. And at the same time, he also rescues from loneliness and boredom, the former Sixth Espada...





	Rotten Apple

**Author's Note:**

> [[♥](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ1TxA7xjhM)] 
> 
> _What I see is unreal_
> 
> _I've written my own part_
> 
> _Eat of the apple, so young_
> 
> _I'm crawling back to start_
> 
> ~~Be aware that I am not a native english speaker.~~
> 
> **/!\ DISCLAIMER /!\ I do not own any of the characters, they all belong to Tite Kubo.**

Ichigo is running away in a long and narrow tunnel. The Dangai _._

It’s cold and grim, he barely can see his own shadow on the slimy walls.

But for some reason, his legs aren't going anywhere and it's coming.

He can't escape it and he's scared.

He calls for them. The old man and his hollow.

 _Silence_.

Except the sound of the wresting flow getting closer to him, until it's too late.

He is caught up in it and he feels like a million of zanpakutōs, are piercing his body from all over.

And now, the darkness comes.

_(...)_

He wakes up in cold sweats, to the sound of his own screaming.

 

* * *

  

 

Ichigo's soul has been ripped apart, almost shattered. That's the cruel price for having used the final Getsuga Tenshō against Aizen. Therefore, he can’t hear Zangetsu’s voice, he misses the old man. He also misses his damn inner Hollow, that says something. He can't even see the spirits anymore. Even less, hunt and kill the Hollows.

He can't feel anything. It _hurts_.

He can't protect anyone. It's _agonizing_.

His last memory about the spiritual world, is Rukia's eyes full of quiet sorrow, watching him one last time while slowly fading, until she disappears completely from his sight.

All is left for Ichigo, is a long and painful recovery.

His senior year in high school has just started, but nobody feel ready to forget the last battle against Aizen and his Espada. No one talk about it, and an awkward tension is perpetually floating around them. No one dare to mention the anxiety attacks that are constantly threatening to take control of their tired bodies neither the recurring nightmares that occur every night.

The vain attempt to save a friend from a certain damnation and the horrid sensation of a sword puncturing several internal organs.

The faint touch of slim and long inhuman fingers and the distressing vision through warm tears of someone vanishing into the emptiness of the universe. Someone who could have lived and _feel._

The insatiable desire to become stronger until exhaustion.

The feeling of crackling bones and a body painfully mutating into something so powerful that a soul has been almost entirely lost for the sake of an unfair destiny.

Ichigo can't barely bear the sad looks his sisters are giving him almost every morning, during breakfast. They don't ask about the screams and his father acts like nothing wrong is going on. At least, in front of Yuzu and Karin. Once, while Goat-Face was trying to bring Ichigo out from another bad dream, Ichigo tried to stab him with what seemed to be an invisible Zanpakutō, that only him alone could see, but Isshin roughly shook him by the shoulders and told him to man up. 

 

* * *

 

 

As Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Uryū are having lunch in silence on the school's rooftop, an unexpected visit surprises them.

Shinji Hirako, suddenly lands right in front of them.

Ichigo smiles faintly at the sight of the blond Visored. From now on, the only possible way for him to be able to see the Shinigami, is when they use a gigai. However, he hasn't been expecting to see a familiar face from Soul Society right now, and least of all, Shinji. Since Aizen's defeat, they haven't heard anything from Soul Society, and all the people they risked their lives for.

Isn't that just sad _?_

Alternatively, three Shinigami unknown to them, have been sent by Soul Society to patrol in town and exterminate the Hollows, making the intervention of Uryū, Chad and Orihime, completely unnecessary.

"Yo guys," Shinji greets them flatly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

The leader of the Visoreds is still every bit as weird and eccentric as Ichigo remembers him; still wearing mismatched human clothes from long ago, and an old-fashioned blond fringe covering half of his forehead as well as that freaky Cheshire cat smile pinned on his odd but nonetheless pretty face.

"Shinji? Aren't you supposed to be back with the Gotei 13, as the Captain of the Fifth Division?" Ichigo asks, sounding more overwhelmed than intented.

Hurt twists the blond's expression but it vanishes in the blink of an eye as if Ichigo has just imagined it for a second.

Ichigo suddenly feels his heart skip a beat. What if Shinji is here to enlist Uryū, Chad and Orihime, in a new mission for the sake of Soul Society? Is it why those three Shinigami have been assigned in Karakura? To allow Uryū, Chad and Orihime, some rest, get their strength back and be ready for the next fight?

It makes sense.

Shinji's presence couldn't have anything to do with him anyway. Ichigo is powerless and he gets in the way.

_What about the gigai, then?_

Nonetheless, Ichigo takes a few breaths for himself at the thought of Soul Society, using his friends to save their own interests. Again.

"Is there something wrong that requires our assistance?" Uryū enquires with a concerned look. He puts down his chopsticks and pushes his lunchbox away.

Shinji snorts.

"Calm down kids, y'all need ta chill a second. Have y'all looked at yourselves in a mirror lately? Y'all look like shit."

Orihime gasps in surprise, slapping a hand over her mouth and Chad flicks a suspicious look at him but doesn’t say anything. Ichigo and Uryū simply glance at each other briefly.

Ichigo had completely forgotten until now, how blunt and straightforward Shinji could be. _Asshole_.

Uryū decides to speak again. "What are you doing here? Why are you not in Soul Society?"

The Quincy asks the same questions Ichigo asked a few seconds ago, and seems suddenly annoyed by the presence of the Visored.

"I told Yamamoto and the rest o' Soul Society ta fuck off, okay?" Shinji answers, and four pair of eyes are about to fall out of their orbits at any moment.

Ichigo blinks slowly at Shinji. "What?" 

The toothy bastard must have turned batshit crazy. At this exact instant, Ichigo doesn't really see any other explanation.

On the other hand, the Visored doesn't have a habit of being frustratingly vague and that's something Ichigo has always appreciated about Shinji.

"Yeah, I told 'em ta fuck off. All o' 'em." Shinji rolls his shoulders in a shrug and sits down in front of them. "Can you believe those bastards told us we were given their pardons? Like we were the ones who did somethin' wrong." He heaves a deep sigh. "We could be reinstated at our previous positions, as if nothin' fuckin' happened," Shinji continues with a forced laugh. "Well, only myself and Hiyori stayed here and the rest o' us returned ta Seireitei. I can't hate 'em for this though, 'cause it's still a good home and they can all find a purpose again there, so whatever I guess."

Ichigo can understand the blond Visored in a sense. Soul Society has always had a strange way of doing things with its servitors. One day, you're a respected soul reaper and the next one, you're suddenly a traitor sentenced to death or exiled, abandoned... Yeah, Ichigo can definitely understand Shinji's harsh grudge against the Shinigami.

He also has been betrayed by them and isolated from the world he sacrificed his soul for.

A silence falls shortly between them, only disturbed by the traffic in the street bellow them.

"I'll destroy the Gotei 13 all by myself if they dare ta hurt 'em again," Shinji warns. "Fuckin' Shinigami. I have better things ta do than forever cleanin' the mess they're always leavin' behind. Like hell, I fuckin' regret havin' been one o' 'em once, but now I'm finally done with this bullshit."

Shinji's gaze drops to Ichigo and somehow his expression darkens further, but Ichigo is not sure why.

The four of them are still staring intensely at the blond man and another silence falls between them, thicker this time, until Orihime's voice breaks it.

"Shinji-san..." she starts, and her tone is cautious. Ichigo notices with a shiver that it's the same tone she used with Ulquiorra before. He doesn't like the memory of those ice green eyes peering at him as if he had been a dirty rag. Ichigo's nerves relaxe a little at the mental image of that cryptic emo bastard turning into dust. "Why are you telling us all of this? I'm not sure I understand."

Shinji crosses his arms and leans back, his lips pursed.

"Look at yourselves kids," he says for the second time, voice low and cold. "Did somebody from Soul Society checked on y'all lately?" he sneers grimly. "I already know the answer, so don't bother ta tell me. Before I left, I'm the one who demanded that those three Shinigami had to be assigned here in order for y'all ta at least, get some rest and stop doin' their fuckin' job."

For a brief instant, Ichigo notices an odd shift into Shinji's features. Something older but familiar. Shinji made the same facial expression at the mention of Aizen, before the invasion of Hueco Mundo. Ichigo suddenly realizes that Shinji guided and protected the Visoreds for a century, like a _family_. This way of acting hasn't left him.

"You had no right to interfere!" Uryū snaps, indignant and tilting his head so hard that his glasses slide on the tip of his nose.

"We are perfectly able to hunt down the Hollows," Chad adds, furrowed brow but with a calm tone.

That startles a laugh out of Shinji.

"Yeah sure, don't ya dare ta lie ta my face kids, and tell me if you ever had a good night sleep lately? No nightmares? No Insomnia? No PTSD? C'mon, it's fuckin' written all over yer lil' baby faces," Shinji tells them, definitely annoyed by their obvious denial. He pauses before focusing his attention on Ichigo, who's the only one still looking at him right in the eyes, without dropping his gaze down to the ground.

Shinji clenches his fists. "Ichigo," he mutters, but then his voice rises a little, "Aren't ya fuckin' angry at 'em? Ya took the fall for these bastards. Ya got yer soul ripped apart and ya lost yer powers and what's your reward? Silence," he says, frankly disgusted, his eyes are hard.

"I've accepted my fate, Shinji," Ichigo replies after a tense moment and then, adds carefully, "Rukia and Renji must be busy, I don't blame them. Besides, I'm busy myself with school so It's not a big deal."

If Ichigo hasn't been so tired lately, he wouldn't have said those _lies_ , but they came out of his mouth so mechanically. He has been repeating them in his head a thousand times, since he couldn't keep his eyes shut for more than two damn minutes at night, allowing him to have plenty of time to think.

Shinji smells the obvious bullshit immediately, and the blond Visored _snaps_.

"Yer fate?" Shinji repeats with a hiss. "Ya mean that yer fate was ta end up mopin' around without anyone of yer so called friends in Seireitei ta at least pay ya a visit usin' a gigai? Yer father not havin' the decency ta explain yer heritage?" he bursts out angrily, but Shinji softens straight away, "Listen Ichigo, I'm not tellin' that those idiots up there don't give a shit bout' ya, 'cause damn ya should see the pathetic faces that lil' brunette is makin' sometimes and how that goofy redhead bastard with his ridiculous tatoos is comfortin' her," Shinji tells, and a brief, soft smile flits on Ichigo’s lips. "They're busy or so they say, but these cowards could've at least checked on the four o' ya and instead, they're doin' the usual like pretendin' that everything's fine just 'cause Soul Society won. As if Aizen didn't fuck up each of us. In the end, it's like nothin' have changed at all. Tragic, right?"

"And what are we supposed to do then?" Uryū asks, confused and looking completely done with this conversation.

What is  _he_  supposed to do? For a brief moment, Ichigo gets the odd impression that his damaged soul _stings_. He's accustomed to this unique sensation. It happens when he lets his guard down and a wave of panic gradually envelops his chest. An unintelligible flow of words seems to fill his hearing and he thinks he can recognize the _voices_. The old man. His Hollow. He's lost and he can't access to his soulscape to ask for a life advice from his now vanished, soul inhabitants.

Ichigo inhales a deep breath of air through his nose.

"Act like the teenagers y'all are supposed ta be," Shinji answers, getting up on his feet. "Study hard, have fun, finish high school, go ta the University if that's what ya want, and most important: stay in touch with each other 'cause y'all need time ta heal and it won't be easy." He runs a hand through his hair and then abruptly adds, "Which reminds me that from now on, y'all will follow a few therapy sessions at the hospital. It won't interfere with yer classes obviously, and it won't cost ya a penny since I made a deal with Ishida Ryuuken."

"My father?" Uryū wonders, stunned.

Shinji rolls his eyes. "Yup, who else baka?" By the way, I wonder if this Quincy is just a clueless snob or if he's simply competin' with Isshin Kurosaki ta be the dumbest father of the century?" Shinji asks rethorically, while Uryū and Ichigo automatically smirk at each other. "A Shinigami from the 4th Division will hold these sessions under Ryuuken's supervision," he clarifies.

"Thank you, Shinji-san. For everything," Orihime cries, her eyes filled with tears. She steps forward to hug Shinji tightly.

"You're welcome Orihime," Shinji whispers, helplessly fond of the girl. He gently wipes off the tears rolling down her cheeks, before he carefuly pulls her away from him.

"What are you going to do now and what about Hiyori?" Ichigo asks, frowning.

"Hiyori is stayin' at Kisuke's shop and me, I'm travelin' ta America for paranormal business," Shinji replies, smiling at the baffled looks of the teenagers. "Karakura might be a Bermuda Triangle for the Hollows but it ain't the only place in the world that attracts weird paranormal shit. There's plenty of hunting to do out there," he explains.

"You're going alone?" Chad questions, with a sceptical look.

"Actually..." Shinji starts, turning to look at Ichigo with a wicked smile, "I'll be accompanied by a certain blue haired former Espada."

Ichigo feels like he has just been slapped by an invisible hand and Orihime gasps in surprise a second time. He swallows hard and gathers his thoughts for a brief moment, before asking, "Grimmjow? He's alive?"

"Yeah, the bastard survived ta the last battle and apparently he misses ya," Shinji reveals, with a light chuckle, at the sight of Ichigo's troubled expression. "I was at Kisuke's shop with the others when we felt his strong reiatsu in town a few weeks ago. Yoruichi stopped him in time, he was headin' ta yer school ta find ya Ichigo," he explains, clicking his tongue with an irritated look on his face.

Ichigo rubs the back of his head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Why did he need to find me?"

Ichigo wonders what Grimmjow would think of his current condition. Would he even look at him? Ichigo doubts it. He became an _insect_ to Grimmjow, the day he has lost his powers.

"The crazy son o' a bitch wanted ta fight ya cause' he bored himself ta death if I may say, in Hueco Mundo. We explained him the situation and I thought for a moment that he was goin' ta have an aneurysm. This fuckin' psycho had a hard time ta believe us and then I told him what I was up ta and eventually he agreed ta join me in America. I could use his strength ta fight a bunch o' vampires and other things like that," Shinji explains, and Ichigo hopes that no harm has been done to Nelliel, Pesche and Dondochakka in Hueco Mundo. "He still has some last minute business ta do in Hueco Mundo. Besides, Kisuke is still workin' on his gigai at the moment but everythin' should be ready for us ta leave Karakura tomorrow," he adds.

"How did you know... about us?" Ichigo asks at last.

Shinji barks out a laugh at that. "I'm hundred years older than y'all, brats. You couldn't sense me If I don't want you to."

The school bell rings and they get up to clear away the remains of their lunch.

"Y'all are goin' ta be late for class so I'm gonna leave."

"You didn't have to-" Ichigo starts, but Shinji gives him a little slap over the head cutting him off sharply. "The decisions are my own and ya got no say in it. Power or not power, the Visoreds take care o' their own. Now go, and live your life Kurosaki Ichigo."

Shinji gives Ichigo a grin as a goodbye and nods his head at the others, then he shunpos away from the four of them, without another word.

Ichigo smiles too and for the first time in what feels like ages, he sees a light of hope, filling up every dark empty corner of his life.

 

* * *

 

 

Ichigo is now twenty-four years old.

The nightmares are still haunting him at night. But they are less vivid and they start to feel like a distant memory.

He still catches up with Orihime, Uryū and Chad. They dealt with the pain, _together_.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometimes Rukia still watches over Ichigo, a glimpse of pride in her eyes.

He can’t see her anymore, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten about her.

The stories Ichigo tells to the sick little children who need courage and comfort during a painful treatment, or before a surgery, are Rukia's first clue.

These stories often involve a small girl from another world, who comes to Earth to protect the children from the bad monsters, hidden in the dark.

Their hearts ache, even years after Ichigo has lost his last powers and the ability to see Rukia. Strong is the remaining bond, linking their two souls together.

But she can't interfere in human affairs. Not anymore. This, or the risk to face a certain death penalty, inevitable this time. So, Rukia doesn't get involved in Ichigo's life, neither in the lives of his friends.

_They will meet again._

 

* * *

 

  
_Somewhere in Central America..._  

 

  
"Ya didn't have ta use yer resurrección Pantera form and destroy everythin' aroun', just ta kill a single Cadejo ***** ," Shinji sighs, curling up in his bed sheets with a magazine, found on the hotel nightstand. "We're lucky ta have an available plane ta leave this place tomorrow, 'cause ya can be sure we would have been the first suspects since we're both strangers and a blue haired man with a short temper is not difficult ta miss in that small town."

"This fuckin' evil dog got what it deserved, it started ta bolt after me in that forest! Ya, and those useless weaklings who live there should fuckin' thank me 'cause I did my damn job and I killed this thing!" Grimmjow cries out, a little too loudly, in their hotel room.

"Maybe it thought ya were the dinner. Kittens seem ta be a scarce ressource for the bloodthirsty demon dogs aroun' here," Shinji teases from his bed, flipping through the pages of the magazine he's reading.

"Call me like that again and I will fuckin' plant my claws in yer lil' fragile neck of yours," Grimmjow threatens with the scariest look he can manage, which causes a mocking laughter out of Shinji, quickly interrupted by a shoe violently thrown at his face.

Later that night, Shinji swears he can hear the Arrancar purring in his sleep.

 

  
_**Fin**_

**Author's Note:**

> Cadejo ***** = The cadejo is a supernatural dog from Central American and southern Mexican folklore. There is a good white cadejo and an evil black cadejo. Both are spirits that appear at night to travelers: the white to protect them from harm during their journey, the black (sometimes an incarnation of the devil) to kill them.
> 
> The title (inspired by the song linked at the top) is very dark compared to the ending of this fic, but I think the lyrics fit well with what Ichigo probably felt after he lost all of his powers.


End file.
